Induction

GAME: Dolan rolls fortitude: (18)+8: 26

The sun is well westering by the time Dolan has gotten the pie vendor across the city and to the temple, and sorted everything out. At least the headache has faded, even if the memory of what he touched most assuredly has not. When he can finally slip away and process what happened, he leaves one Temple to find the back side of another, pulling a rolled letter from inside of his breastplate and studying it.

"The Marching Toad, huh?" he murmurs to himself, and after a second perusal, he stuffs it back into the breastplate, into the padding underneath, and turns to make his way down the side streets into one of the rougher areas of town.

It takes him a little time to find it, because it's a little bar tucked away in the side streets, the sort of place off the beaten path where only the locals drink. Find it he does, and flags the barkeep down. "A double black whiskey, if you would." This said in a tone that suggests that he could use one, but instead of pouring him a drink, the barkeep quietly opens a door into the back room, and closes it behind him. Down the stairs, at the bottom of which a light is visible.

The light is not that of a flickering torch. But rather the steady light of a manalamp. This is clearly a hidden basement, and at the bottom of it is what initially looks like a secondary bar. Or maybe an armory. Or a library? Some combination of the three. There's various people drinking at a bar. Others peruse books at tables far from the drinks. Still others are sharpening weapons or discussing fighting techniques in hushed tones along the walls. None of the people are familiar, none... Save Balderdan.

The guardsman sits at one of the tables and looks up as Dolan enters. Actually everyone does. Everyone for a moment is staring at Dolan and then when Balderdan rises to his feet they go back to what they were doing. Balderdan himself smiles slightly, and motions Dolan over to his table even as he folds his book over and pushes it to a corner of the table.

For half a breath, Dolan freezes, wondering if he's in massively the wrong place, but when Balderdan stands, he lets out a sigh of relief. "Sorry that took so long," he greets, heeding the motion over to his table and seating himself across from the man. "Guessing I'm in the right place." The voice is deep, the tone light and casual, but something underneath it is anything but.

Balderdan's soft welcoming smile lingers. "You're in the right place. You don't have to apologize, I knew you would come - if and when you were ready to do so." He motions for Dolan to take a seat at the table before sitting down himself. "It's a hard choice to make for some, and some can not bear keeping the secret. It seems however that you have on both accounts. Or am I wrong?"

Dolan's all too ready to seat himself. "No. You're not. I haven't told her a damn thing. She's still innocent, Balderdan. I want to keep it that way. I don't want her ever finding out what this is really like. Not till she's ready to find out on her own." He fairly drops into the chair offered, resting elbows on the table. "I couldn't not. I've got to do something, and I can't do it alone. I'm pretty sure I ran into something in the market that doesn't belong in the city."

"Really?" This more to the last bit of what Dolan says than what comes prior to it, though Balderdan seems to take Dolan's words at face value and with no small appreciation. "Tell me about it." It's not a command, but it's not exactly a request either. "There's been an uncomfortable number of evils running about Alexandria of late and if you've news then we need to know."

"Yeah." Dolan scrubs at the scarred side of his face, almost as if it itched. "I was in the market to get my clothes repaired, and there was this mul woman asking around about a couple of friends of mine and a third woman I didn't know. I hadn't seen either of them in a few days, and I never did find out exactly where they live anyway. I know it's somewhere in the University District, but that's a big place, so I didn't figure that was useful to anybody. So I figured, no harm, she just wanted to find them, right? I didn't have a lot of information, but - some of the other people around got suspicious and started throwing accusations, so I asked the Knight to show me what He saw. Whether she was of evil intent or not."

"Balderdan, the stink of it hit me like a wagon where the horse has slipped the traces. It was the strongest evil I'd ever felt in my life. It put me on my knees and gave me a headache. She gave the others the slip, and those were people who can _fight_."

For a moment Balderdan is quiet. Thinking. He lays a hand on the book he was reading and then lets it slide away so that he can tap his fingers on the table with a small nod. "Yea, that can happen when the evil is so great that it can't be ignored. You have to watch that... but USE it." He almost smiles. "The Knight will let you know what you have the strength to face alone. But there are those who can help. And I don't just mean your allies out there."

He motions to the area around them. To the men and women in this odd little room. "The Iron Book can help too."

Dolan's lone eye blinks slowly as he digests that. "So - that was a warning. Whatever - whoever that was - they're evil as all the green garden hells, and too strong for me to take on head-on?" This seems to make sense to him, judging by his nod. "Set off one of these poor bastards who'd been infected and hadn't come forward. We got him talked down and cured, but not before he killed his wife in his sleep." He shakes his head.

"So what, exactly, is the Iron Book? I've heard rumors about it, but that's it."

Dolan doesn't need Balderdan's nod of confirmation, but it's there. As for the rest... That's more complicated. "We are a group dedicated to the eradication of Devils and Demons. Which sounds simple enough, but it's not. Specifically we start from the ground up. Working to destroy their cults which support them and then... eventually the evil itself. But that's easier said than done itself." "Because the cults are how the demons and devils get here to start with," Dolan nods, almost at once, a shudder rippling through him, a quite plainly painful memory seizing him. "Yeah," he adds after a moment. "I've seen cults like that before. That shit needs to be wiped off of Ea."

"Finding them is probably the first problem."

"Finding them can be the problem. Which is one of the reasons we ourselves work in secret. If they knew with certainty that we existed... we could not work as we do to destroy them. It's a difficult task, and one that is not always easy to balance, but it is worth it." Balderdan looks at Dolan. "Would you like a drink? You look as though you could use one after the day you've had."

"I could use about six, but one's enough. Whatever's on tap," Dolan answers gratefully, elbows still on the table. "Just how often do demons show up in Alexandria?" he asks after a moment, straightening up and scrubbing again at the scarred side of his face.

Balderdan nods and picks up the book, quietly putting it away before making around the room to the bar and getting a pair of drinks to bring back to Dolan. It's not until the drink is safely in Dolan's hands that he answers that question. "More often than anyone would care to admit. We had an Arch Duke practically waving his... flag around the city without an concern for nigh half a year. Killing people left and right, building edifices of dead bodies." He shook his head at that.

"That's one of the reasons the Iron Book has become so active in Alexandria of late. We can't afford to let another incident like that one happen. We're not sure what's drawing them here, but we'd sure as hell like to find out."

Dolan's eyes go wide as he takes the drink, and puts it nearly at once to his lips. "I don't know what that is, besides sounding really bad. How'd you get rid of - whatever that was?" Siiip. "I'd guess from your words it's something you don't see often."

"An Arch Duke is a demon worshiped as a god by other demons. It's... basically the top of the demonic food chain. They don't come up to the surface often, but when they do it's never good. To be honest I don't know what drew this one. I just know that a group of adventurers risked life and soul to kill it dead for good. I doubt any of them were members of the Iron Book though. From what I hear... They killed in in some odd way that left the damn thing lingering." Balderdan shakes his head irritably and takes his own drink. "I don't know the details. You'd have to ask Mourner Verna. She seems friendly with you, and I know she was involved in bringing him down."

"Huh. I knew she was no joke, but an archduke." The word rolls carefully off of Dolan's tongue, as he tries it on for size, and lets out a low whistle. "Don't mess with her. Good to know." A cheeky grin flashes a brief appearance. "I've got to talk to her anyway.

"So ... what do you need me to do to help you out?"

Balderdan leans forward slightly, his blue eyes serious. "That depends on if you are going to join the Iron book or not. If you join, write your name on our ledger and swear to destroy evil wherever you find it to the best of your ability... Then we've a mission for you. If not... Then you go on your merry way and we move our operation somewhere else."

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't going to do it, Balderdan." Dolan sets down his mug and straightens, artificial and natural eyes alike joined in his direct gaze. "You haven't told me anything that would change my mind. Nobody should have to suffer at the hands of these things, or the bastards who sign on with them." He means every word of that with every fiber of his being, so intense is the statement. "I wasn't sure until I realized that that kind of evil is running around freely in this city, and that's got to stop. For what it's worth, I'm in."

The lieutenant smiles and offers his hand. "Then let me be the first to welcome you to the Iron Book. I'll introduce you around later. For now. We talk business. You see we need to find out who this demon is looking for. And why. They may not know that they know why, but when you're in this deep... There's a reason for it. If we can find out that reason we can act against the demon while some of our agents work to retrieve a weapon that can kill this thing." He looks at Dolan with sharp eyes. "You might be able to help with that too. This demon and those demonic wolves are your first missions Dolan. If you can help us there, you'll be well on your way."

Dolan's answering smile isn't its usual cheeky self. He reaches to take the hand in his own callused one, the smile he wears a quieter thing, a knowledge that this is _right_, no matter how terrifying it might be. There's something about Balderdan, and the people here, something that he can't quite put a finger on, but that's a later thing. For now, he simply says, "I know who she was looking for. She was looking for a mul named Aya. The other two - you'll remember that day when I woke up, there was a half-sil in the room? That's Telamon. The other two were him and his girlfriend. Damned if I know why."

Balderdan is silent a moment, then stands up and goes to a wall behind him that holds blank scrolls and ink. He comes back with them and writes down the names that Dolan mentioned before ripping off the paper and shoving the tiny note into his armor. "That's a good start. I'd try asking them. See if you can't get a few answers with honey'd words. Everything we know helps. Now..." He turns the scroll over and passes it and the inkwell over to Dolan. "Everything you can remember about the attack in the market. While it's fresh. If you come upon a demon or devil in your travels always write it down. We keep records because sometimes there's a pattern to their attacks."

That certainly makes sense to Dolan, so he merely nods, takes a deep breath, picks up the quill, and begins to write. "I'll see what I can do, if I can find them again."

With that, he bends to the task of writing, setting down the entire incident from his perspective, beginning to end. The faces he saw that he knew, he sets down their names. It does have holes in it, starting when he looked at the demon, which is consistent with his remark concerning being overwhelmed, but explains about the pie vendor and his ability to calm it. Strangely, it also mentions that when he talked the man down, the lycanthropy-fueled rage literally drained off - he felt it do so, through him, most likely into that damned statue.

When Dolan is done, Balderdan peruses his writing, nodding at some of it and then frowning at the end. "What's this about a statue?" He asks, looking up at Dolan and obviously curious.

"We've been finding these twisted statues in burial mounds outside town. They're evil as shit, Balderdan, but from what I've been able to learn, they hold part of the chains that hold Caracoroth. I tried to destroy it, or find someone who can. I can't, and doing so doesn't do any good, because they're divine magic of some kind." Dolan's smile vanishes as he explains. "I wish I knew more, because ever since I ended up with one, I've been having the strangest damn dreams. They're not nightmares. I can sleep. But - I think they have meaning. Like something or someone is trying to tell me something, and I'm not sure if it's good or bad." Doubt creeps into his tone. "The information in the dreams is important. It's got clues."

"Hummm." Balderdan's brow furrows with thought. "There's a thin line there Dolan. Statue could be the work of evil, or it might be the work of good trying to show you what evil is up to. I'd suggest talking to a mage about it. We've a few in the Iron Book, but you're new enough that folks will be a little reluctant to work for you. If you can't find a mage, perhaps that Mourner Verna can aid you with uncovering what deity the statue is most closely tied to. An Elunan might be able to tell you what the dreams mean… wait."

He huff and stands up again, getting a book from the wall and checking it twice before bringing it back to Dolan. "You can't leave here with it, but any notes you take are yours to keep. It's written by a Seer some time back on the symbology of dreams as it relates to demons and devils. Might find more in there than what you've been able to find so far. I hope it helps."

Surprised, Dolan half-stands when the lieutenant goes and gets the book, turning his whole head to watch. When Balderdan returns with it, he shoves his tankard aside further to make room for it. "I had a silver holy symbol of Eluna made to carry with me, so I might have a clue who's a werewolf and who isn't," he starts, "planning to donate it to the Temple when this was all done. But - that's twice now I've been able to talk someone down from changing by putting it around their neck and talking them down."

As he talks, he's setting the pen aside and cracking the book with fingers that try not to be inky on the edges of the pages. "I need to talk to Verna, like you said. I wonder if there's anything about the black roses in here. I keep dreaming about blue and black roses intertwined. Blue rose probably points at Althea, but the black one?"

Balderdan nods. "I haven't read that particular book myself. So I don't know. But it is indexed properly so you can find what you're looking for pretty easily." He motions and sits down. "I don't know much about werewolves at all. They aren't our usual prey. If you can stop them changing though... Maybe Eluna is fighting back. Or there's something different about these werewolves. You know who you should talk to about werewolves? Silverguards. I heard once from a friend that the chosen of Eluna could change shape once upon a time. Mayhap a rumor. Mayhap truth."

"Yeah, course not." Dolan's more than a little distracted, paging through the book, but he retains enough of his wits to answer. "Don't expect you to, but who's to say demons aren't involved? Probably not devils so much, that's not the Nightmare's bag of tricks. They might take advantage of the chaos, too." He seems to be renewed, focused in some way, the alcohol forgotten as he delves into this new source of information. “They might be on the hunt for her, too. I'll have to watch for that."

Amused somewhat Balderdan leaves Dolan to his perusal of the book. Happy to sit there for a time and drink his drink. Dolan will find a categorized list at the beginning that helps him locate roses in the book. Black roses as it turns out are a symbol of death among demons. Often used as threats of impending death between those fighting one another. Occasionally with spells attached to them to instigate war between factions. The notes indicate further that many battlefields in the hells are covered with black roses. Feasting on the bodies of those that have fallen. No mention of blue roses is made.

"Fuck me," Dolan breathes, his flesh eye going wide. It's odd, but most of his expressions are confined to one side of his face, with only limited movement on the other that can be hard to parse. Here, though, there's no mistaking it. Pure alarm floods him. "I've been dreaming of blue and black roses intertwined. The blue rose makes me think Althea. Black is death among demons. It's a threat. Battlefields in the Hells are covered in black roses. Son of a bitch. There is a demon active in this business. Maybe a whole faction of 'em."

The word 'demon' is like a hushing thing in this room. Everyone is suddenly listening and Balderdan glances around the room. People catch his eye and return to their business but it's very obvious suddenly that they're not alone. "Might be. We knew that at least one had been summoned by someone at the gates to the city. So it doesn't surprise me. The question really is... Who are the demon, or demons - threatening? Us? Althea? Someone else?"

"So I think there might be two evil factions." Dolan's writing quickly, his words pausing from time to time as he does so. "There's the Nightmare. Seen him a couple of times. I think he's the one that summoned the demon wolf at the gates." Pause. "Took a job to rescue a noble's girl," pause, "he was supposed to lead us into a trap. Said he was told to wear a black rose so they wouldn't hurt him. Wolves hurt him anyway." Scratch scratch scribble. "So thinking that maybe that Nightmare bastard is or is tied to a demon," scratch scribble, "and not all the wolves are on board."

"If there's two... Maybe we can get them working against one another." Balderdan says slowly. "If they're already in disagreement of some kind... that will be easier." He sighs and scratches a hand through his hair. His drink now long gone. "Either way. It seems that you have more information now than you had before and that's always good. Know your enemy and all that."

"Yeah." Dolan finishes his notes, then snaps the book shut and sets aside the pen, studying the notes he'd made. "Some of these wolves might be a demon cult. I've seen different colors of 'em. Anyway, thanks for the assist." He lets out a breath, then looks up. "Imagine I've got some paperwork to do."

Balderdan nods. "Yea. Come on. We'll get you started." He picks up the book and returns it to where it'd come from and then motions for Dolan to follow him. The rest of what comes after is a secret... Unless you're a member of the Iron Book.

-End